


Thirty-Six Questions

by needleyecandy



Category: Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Falling In Love, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, brief references to child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 23:18:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3914356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needleyecandy/pseuds/needleyecandy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki needs some extra money and answers an ad for a psychology department study. </p><p>He gets a lot more than a check.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thirty-Six Questions

**Author's Note:**

> I read [this article in the NY Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/fashion/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html?_r=0) about a psychology study where a series of questions made compatible strangers fall in love, and it seemed like an intriguing fic possibility. 
> 
> ...and I just realized that a couple lines in here were (unconsciously) swiped from the story summary of [The Heart of the Matter.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3840358) Oops.   
> Enjoy!

Loki wouldn't have given a second glance to the ad in the student paper - "Earn $500 in just two hours!" it blared - if it didn't also have the university logo in the corner and contact information for someone in the psychology department. But adjuncts got paid shit, which was why he was sitting here, skimming through the job listings looking for something part-time. If they were advertising to students, they were willing to deal with a student's schedule, and that meant they were willing to deal with an instructor's schedule. 

Of course there was a catch. There's always a catch, he thought, as he read the email he received in reply. They paid $50 to take an initial survey; people who were chosen for the actual study would get the other $450 when they completed it. Still, fifty bucks was fifty bucks, and psychology was only a couple buildings down from the library, where he was currently spending all his free time since he couldn't afford to run the A/C in his shitty apartment. 

Two days later he arrived at his appointment to find there were a hundred people crammed into a lecture hall, all taking the same survey. The first page was a consent form, explaining that they were participating in a survey about human interactions, that they were allowed to stop at any time, and that the study had been approved by the university's Human Research Protection Committee. He cringed a little at the _human interaction_ part, but he wasn't about to quit until he got his money. He signed quickly and opened the survey. 

It started out pages and pages of photos of all the people taking the survey. He was supposed to circle everyone he knew. He flipped through - taking a moment to appreciate how well the shot he'd chosen captured his cheekbones - before ticking the box indicating he knew no one. 

The rest of the packet was questions: basic demographics, his sexual orientation and history, and then there were questions about his political opinions, attitudes and behaviors. He was more than a little tempted to tick both 'I smoke' and 'I dislike smokers,' but that seemed like the sort of thing that might get him excluded from the bigger paycheck. 

He handed it in and the researcher dug through the stack of checks until she found his and handed it to him along with a slip of paper explaining that it might take up to a month to contact people for the second round. 

It turned out to be twenty-two days. The heat hadn't eased despite the late hour and he was reading in the bathtub, trying to cool down enough to sleep. The glass of wine he was drinking probably didn't help as far as the temperature was concerned, but Loki had limits on how far he was willing to let nature push him. His phone chimed with an email. He almost didn't look at it, figuring it was probably a student panicking over tomorrow's assignment despite the fact that Loki had told them three times that if they needed help they should come to office hours. 

_Dear Mr. Laufeyson,_

_We appreciate your interest in the human interaction study currently underway in the psychology department. If you are still willing to participate in the second part of the study, please contact us within three days to arrange an appointment._

_Best,_

_Dr. Sophia Madison_

He shuddered a little at the signature ('Best,' indeed) but he crossed his fingers that she wasn't the person he'd be doing the interacting with, and wrote back with his acceptance. 

By the time he went to bed, he had the date and time. 

When he got there, there was one other person waiting, leaning against the wall and fidgeting. He was tall, slightly taller than Loki, even, and _huge._ It took Loki a minute to look up from the chest and the arms (oh God, the arms) to see the face (and _oh God,_ the face). Long blond hair and blue eyes that Loki could _not_ drown in but that was only because he detested clichés. 

The door across the hall from Adonis opened and the woman from the first round stepped out. "Oh, wonderful, you're both here," she said. She ducked back inside and picked up a folder. "This way, please." 

She led them down a hallway as they grinned nervously at each other. 

The room she took them to was nearly empty, save for a table and two chairs on opposite sides. "Please, have a seat," she said. 

They both sat. The chairs were sideways to the door, so no one had their back to it. Loki suspected it was intentional. He suspected everything, down to the stain of the wooden table, was intentional. 

She gave each of them a sheet of paper and put a timer in the middle of the table. Loki's sheet had nineteen numbered lines on it. 

"Your sheets have different questions on them. Take a few minutes to chat - your names, hobbies, whatever you want. I will tell you that you've already been matched for compatibility based on the questionnaire, so you shouldn't hate each other, at least." Her smile at that last bit looked rote, like she'd already done this twenty times already. "Then take turns working through the list, and please be as honest as you can. This part typically lasts under an hour. I'll be in my office when you're finished here with a second questionnaire for you, and I'll have your checks ready when you've completed those." 

And then she was gone, and they were looking at the door as it closed behind her. 

"Well, this is kind of intense. Hi, I'm Thor," said the other man, offering his hand. 

Loki shook it, trying to look like he wasn't touching one of the hottest things he'd ever seen in his life. "Loki." 

Thor's smile was radiant. "Nice to meet you, Loki. Do you work on campus?" 

Loki nodded. "I'm an adjunct in art history. Which is why I'm here," he said with a wry smile. 

"I hear you there. Materials science is supposed to pay off once you graduate, but until then..." Thor trailed off. 

"Oh, you're a grad student?" 

"Non-traditional. I worked a few years after undergrad, paying off loans." 

"Smart. I sometimes wish I'd done that." 

"Sometimes I wish I hadn't," Thor admitted. "Well, should we start this?" 

"Sure." Loki looked down at his paper. "Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?" 

Thor thought a moment before barking a laugh. "God, this sounds totally like fake-dating-show cheesy, but Leonardo Da Vinci." 

Loki cocked his head in curiosity. 

"He was so far ahead of his time, scientifically, and I love how he didn't draw the distinction between science and art that we do now, he just saw all of it as ways of learning and creating." 

"Yeah," Loki said. "I like that, too." He was by no means a specialist in Renaissance art, but it could hardly be avoided in his studies, and it was something he too had found compelling. 

Thor looked down at his sheet. "Would you like to be famous? In what way?" 

"I'd like to be famous in my field, so that I have fans who adore my brilliance but I can still go to the supermarket without people taking pictures of me," Loki said instantly. 

Thor laughed. "Yeah, that does seem like it would get old really fast." 

Loki's next question, "Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say, and why?," had Thor blinking in confusion. 

"People really do that?" he asked. 

"That's a no?" Loki asked, dodging the question. 

"It is. That never even occurred to me," Thor admitted. He looked at his sheet. "What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?" 

Loki sighed and sat back in his chair. "I need a minute to think on this one," he said. Thor looked gracious as he told Loki to take his time. He had a gracious delicious face and Loki couldn't help wondering what his beard would feel like against his skin. 

"Can my perfect day involve teleporting?" Loki asked. 

"If that's what makes it perfect, sure," Thor said with a shrug. 

"Then I want breakfast in bed at the Waldorf, and then I'd go to Birmingham. The art museum there has the biggest collection of Pre-Raphaelite art in the world, and I've never seen it. I'd have lunch there because right now I can't afford to eat in museum cafes, and then I'd stay for the afternoon. I'd watch the sun set from the Eiffel Tower and then go to Thailand for dinner." 

"I've been to Thailand once. I think you'd like it," Thor said. "You'd definitely like your dinner, anyway." 

Fuck, his eyes were blue. And they had a warmth Loki rarely saw outside of brown ones. He looked quickly down. "When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?" he asked. 

"This morning, in the shower," Thor said. "Best way to wake up. I have a bluetooth stereo hanging from the showerhead, so I can put something on my phone and have it play in there. To someone else? Hmmm..." 

Loki tensed. _Don't say girlfriend, don't say girlfriend, don't say-_

"My niece," Thor said. "My brother and his wife had a little girl five months ago, and I went before the term started so I could meet her, and I took care of her a few nights so they could have proper dates. Singing seemed to be the only thing that put her to sleep." 

Loki didn't even like children, but he couldn't help liking that answer. "Do you want to settle down and have kids some day?" he blurted out. 

" _No._ " Thor's answer was emphatic. "I mean, I'd like to meet someone and settle in together, but I just want it to be him and me." 

Loki liked that answer even better. He tried to hide his grin as Thor asked the next one. 

"If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?" 

"Oh, that's way harder than yours," Loki complained. 

Thor's laugh was warm and rich and made Loki feel like chocolate on a summer day. It was almost enough to soothe the war of vanities that raged inside him. 

"My mind, I guess. They both sound kind of scary. I mean, you'd be aware of everything going on as your body slowly wears out around you, but the other option is your mind going, and at least part of that time you must be aware of it happening, and that seems even worse." 

Thor nodded sympathetically. "Okay, next question's got to be better, right?" he asked. 

"Right." Loki looked down and burst into laughter. "Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?" he asked. 

Suddenly his last question didn't seem so bad. After the question about preparing for phone conversations, he was pretty sure how Thor would answer this, and Loki's answer would seem crazy in comparison, and Loki really didn't want to seem crazy. But Thor surprised him. 

"I kinda feel like I'm going to get hit by lightning," he said. When Loki looked up, he was blushing. "I don't know why I feel like that. Is that nuts?" he asked, looking up. 

"Actually, I think I'm going to be crushed by a falling gargoyle," Loki admitted. 

They stared at each other a moment before laughing, the skin around Thor's eyes going as crinkly as Loki could feel his own. 

When they quieted, Thor gave the next question. "Name three things we appear to have in common," he said. 

"Well, we're smart..." Loki began cautiously. Thor nodded his agreement. "And we're both good looking?" he swore silently at himself for phrasing it like a question, but Thor nodded again. "And we're both interested in traveling," he finished confidently. 

"Nailed it," Thor said, smiling at him again. 

Loki smiled back. "For what in your life do you feel most grateful?" he asked. 

"My family. Dad's kind of more into discipline than maybe he needed to be, but his own dad wasn't very good and he wanted to avoid making the same mistakes. And my mother is wonderful, and I have the best little brother in the world." 

"That sounds nice," Loki said. 

"It is. Um, okay. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?" 

"I'd have a family worth being grateful for, too," Loki answered quietly. 

Thor looked somber. "I'm sorry," he said. People said that all the time. Thor sounded like he really meant it. 

Loki shrugged. "It's in the past, at least. Now your question?" he asked, mentally shoving his family away. He liked Thor and he didn't want them intruding any more than necessary. 

"Go for it," Thor said. 

"Okay... _oh._ Take four minutes and tell your partner your life story in as much detail as possible, it says." 

"Oh. Umm, is that telling me to do it, or telling you to?" 

"Seems like me. There's no question mark," Loki said. 

"You wanna pretend it's for me?" Thor offered. 

Loki felt the tight knot in his chest ease. "Thanks," he said. 

"Okay. Lemme just get this timer going... all right. Well, I grew up in a kind of medium sized town. I had a hard time in school when I was little because it was hard for me to sit still, so in second grade my parents transferred me to an experimental school, where we got to be a lot more active. Like, instead of sitting through storytime, the teacher would take us for a walk and play an audiobook from a tape player hanging around her neck. I didn't want to change schools at first because I didn't want to leave my friends, but that worked out really well for me. By the time I finished elementary, it was getting easier to sit in a desk, and then in middle school I had all my friends from both schools, so that was good. As good as middle school can be, anyway. I think it kind of sucks for everybody." 

Loki nodded in agreement. 

"And I liked high school. I had some really great teachers, and by the time I was a sophomore my voice had quit cracking and my skin quit breaking out, and after adolescence that was just like heaven. I did a bunch of school plays, which was fun-" 

"You did theater?" Loki interrupted. He blushed. "Sorry. Just, you know, you look more like an athlete," he said. 

"Oh, that. Yeah, that came later. No, in high school I was built more like you." Did his eyes just run over Loki's torso? Yes, they did. "I started lifting in college, it's kind of sad actually but it's still good it happened. My dad was in a car accident and he broke way more bones than seemed right for the impact, and they did some tests and it turned out he had osteoporosis. Since it's not common for men, his doctor said Baldr and I should get checked, and it turned out my bones were thinner than they should be for my age. So I've been taking these giant calcium pills and lifting ever since." 

"Fuck, is he okay?" Loki asked. 

"Yeah, he's fine. He got a pin in one leg, so he has to have a doctor's note at the airport now, but it's way better to have happened when it did than when he was older. So, umm...after college, like I said, I worked to pay off my loans. It was a really boring job, but it paid pretty well for someone with just a bachelor's, and now here I am, a lowly grad student," he finished, his last words loud to be heard over the buzzing of the timer. 

Thor flicked it off and looked at his paper. "Oh, this is a fun one. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?" he asked. 

"Only one? Well, let's see. Teleportation is obviously a top contender." 

"Obviously," Thor agreed. His eyes twinkled and for just a second Loki almost forgot how to talk. 

"Telekinesis would be nice, I could have breakfast in bed without having to get up and make it." 

Thor nodded. "Getting it yourself does kind of ruin the point." 

"I can't remember the name of it, but I read about one where you touch something and know its full history." 

"I've never heard of that. That does sound like fun," Thor said. 

"It'd also be nice to be able to make doubles of myself. They could do the stuff I don't want to do." 

"And if you had that, they could make you breakfast in bed and go to work while you travel, so you wouldn't need to teleport," Thor pointed out. 

Loki grinned at him. "You've talked me into it. That's what I'd pick." Thor met his eyes and held them. Loki could feel his cheeks going warm before he broke it to look down at his sheet. "If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?" 

Thor took a moment to think, and Loki got distracted staring at him. So when Thor spoke with a question he thought for a moment that he'd somehow missed the answer. 

"What's the biggest problem I'm capable of fixing?" 

"I'm sorry, what?" Loki asked. 

Thor rather looked like he knew everything, but he was courteous. "That's what I would want the ball to tell me. There's not much point being told about things I can't fix, but... I want to make things better, and there are so many ways that can go. I wish I knew what was the best thing to focus on." 

"Oh," Loki said. "That's, umm... really noble of you." 

Thor fidgeted. "I don't mean it like that. I just want to matter," he said. 

"I think maybe what matters the most is caring about that," Loki said. It kind of made him want to throw up on himself - normally he wouldn't be caught dead uttering such treacle - but it made Thor stop looking uncomfortable, and deep down he actually kind of believed it, even though Thor was probably the only person in the world who would ever hear him admit it. And Thor's eyes just kept getting warmer. 

"Thanks. So, is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?" 

_World domination. Worshippers kneeling everywhere I turn. Nubile bodies throwing themselves at me everywhere I go._ "I'd like to go to that art gallery I mentioned earlier." That was true, too. "It's just finding the time and money. I was actually looking for a second job when I saw the ad for this. Trying to start saving up some." 

"That's messed up. I mean, it seems like if the universities cost so much you go into debt, they should at least pay enough for you to live when you finish." 

"I couldn't agree more," Loki said. 

"I'm here to get money for a security deposit on a better apartment. Where I am now takes too long to get to campus." 

"I'm looking to move, too. I have an old wall A/C unit that sucks electricity like no tomorrow." 

"Man, it's too hot here to not have that," Thor said, shaking his head. 

"Way too hot. Okay, umm... What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?" 

Thor got a _look_ on his face. Loki would have said it was cute if only he said the word 'cute' which he most _certainly_ did not. It was... charming. Yes. 

"Three years ago, I was walking back to my car, I don't even know what I was doing. Listening to music, probably. Anyway, there's this woman ahead of me and she's on crutches, walking with her kid, and all of a sudden the kid takes off running, and she's yelling and trying to run, but she can't really with the crutches, and we're almost at the end of the block so I start running too, and the cross street doesn't have a stop and I grabbed the kid out of the street just before she got hit by a car." 

Loki blinked. "Oh. Wow. You saved somebody's life." 

"I don't know. I mean, maybe it wouldn't have killed her, but it would have messed her up. She was pretty little," he said. 

"That's... wow." 

"Her mom called the tv station. I was the hero of the month," Thor said. "That part was weird, I was just doing what needed doing. But it felt good, doing it." 

"I can only imagine." 

"What do you value most in a friendship?" Thor asked. The way he said it, it wasn't like he was reading a question. It looked like he really wanted to know. 

Some of these questions were starting to tread on dangerous territory, but he really needed that money. Strangely, he never gave more than the briefest consideration to lying. "Somebody who sticks with it. Somebody who doesn't give up," Loki said. The look Thor gave him made him hurry to his next question. "What is your most treasured memory? he asked. 

Thor's face lit up at the thought. "When I was eight, my dad had a work trip to Austria, and mom got time off her job and they pulled us out of school to go along. There was a lot of history and architecture and stuff that I'd probably appreciate more now, but there was this one day. We went to a salt mine inside a mountain, and there was a tour and learning about salt mining, and I wasn't really into that, but then there's this huge slide where you sit on an empty salt bag and slide down so long it feels like forever. I didn't think my parents would do it, right? Cause they're so proper and grown up and everything. But they did it. It's kind of a rail you go down, and they put down the bag and Baldr sat in front, and I was behind him, and then mom sat behind me and dad got in the back and we all held on to each other and I just remember all of us laughing the whole way down." 

He looked so happy telling the story that Loki couldn't help smiling right along with him. When Thor looked at his sheet and the smile fell from his face, Loki couldn't help feeling it in his chest, like an iron hand. Squeezing. 

"What is your most terrible memory?" Thor asked slowly. "Do you want me to answer this question too? I don't mind." 

Loki shook his head. "No, it's okay," he said. "It was the first time I got picked up by CPS." 

Thor's eyes widened, and Loki wondered how much of it was at _CPS_ and how much was _first time._

"My dad was supposed to pick me up after school, and I sat on the steps out front waiting for him, and all the other kids got their buses or their rides came, and finally I was the only kid there, and the principal waited with me and she called every number they had for me, but there was no answer, so she finally had to call CPS to come get me. And then when they found my dad and he came to get me, he yelled at me for making him look bad." 

Thor's hands were resting on the table, and Loki's eyes were on them as he spoke. He watched them tighten into fists. "What else did he think you should have done?" he asked. 

Loki shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know. Walk home or something, maybe." 

"But he'd told you to wait?" 

"Yeah." Loki cleared his throat and looked from Thor's hands to his paper. It was hard to look away; he liked how they looked all tensed up and angry and on his behalf. "If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?" 

"Would I spend my last year earning a degree I'd never use? Hell, no," Thor said, laughing. It sounded a little forced, like it felt awkward to laugh after Loki's last answer, but like he also wanted to change the mood of the room. Loki appreciated the effort. 

"Can't blame you," Loki said, smiling back. 

"I'd volunteer all the time, like build houses for Habitat for Humanity or something. I do that on some weekends now, but it's hard to find the time with all my studying. I think that would be a good legacy. Or I could be like a vigilante superhero," he finished, grinning. 

"That's strikingly easy to picture," Loki said. 

Thor grinned at him. "What does friendship mean to you?" he asked. 

Yup. Personal. Loki stared at the table. "Trust," he said. "Laughing with somebody, or calling them up when I'm free to see if they're free and want to do something, even if it's just watching a show we both like, just getting a pizza and watching it together. Your turn. What roles do love and affection play in your life?" 

"Not as much as I'd like," Thor answered. He sounded wistful. "I talk to my parents on the phone a lot, and I skype with Baldr, but... it's not the same as having someone, you know? I just... I want someone to love me for me, not just because of who I am to them. And my friends are awesome, I don't mean to sound like they aren't, but... yeah. It's not the same." 

"Yeah," Loki said softly. "I know." 

Thor really didn't seem like someone who'd have issues in that area. Even if he weren't smart, he was _so_ fucking hot. But maybe that was the problem. Maybe people looked at his face and never went beyond. Never did things like this. 

Thor shook himself. It made Loki think of a duck trying to get the water off. "Okay. Now we're supposed to take turns saying something we think is a positive characteristic of the other one, we each say five things." 

"You seem really dedicated to your family," Loki offered. 

"Thanks," Thor said. His face glowed at Loki's words. "I am. I think you're... a survivor. You're tough." 

Loki bobbed his head in acknowledgement. "You're funny," he said. 

"You are too." 

"You're kind." 

"You're determined," Thor said. 

"Being good is important to you," Loki said. 

"You know what you want, and you're willing to work for It." 

"You seem like somebody people can rely on," Loki said. He hoped Thor didn't connect it with what he'd said _friendship_ meant. It was basically the same as saying he wanted to be friends with Thor and it was true but it's the sort of thing that just left him a wide-open target for rejection and- 

"You seem like someone who would be fun to be friends with," Thor said. Loki met his eyes and smiled. 

"I kinda already know the answer to this one, but how close and warm is your family? Do you feel your childhood was happier than most other people’s?" 

"Very close. Mom's warmer than dad, but it's not like he didn't show he cared, he was just more subtle with it. And Baldr's close enough to my age that we played together all the time growing up. I don't know about most families, but, yea. It was happy." 

"You don't have to look uncomfortable," Loki said. 

"I feel like I'm bragging, after what you said about yours," Thor admitted. 

"You're not. You're just answering the question. And it's good you have a happy family." 

"Thanks. Okay... oh. How do you feel about your relationship with your mother?" He sighed. "Shit, I'm sorry." 

"No, it's okay. When I was younger, I used to wish she did more. Like, fighting dad, or protecting us, or something. But now I know she was just as scared as we were, and trying to keep him from getting angry was the best thing she could see to do to protect us. I hear people talking about families like ours, and asking why the mom doesn't just take the kids and leave, and it's not that easy. If it were that easy, they would. So I guess my answer is that I'm sad about it." 

Thor looked sadder than Loki felt, if he were honest. He'd had a long time to get used to it. So he went on to his next question. "We're supposed to make three true “we” statements each. For instance, _We are both in this room feeling …_ I'll start." If he went first, Thor had to go last, and that was what would be more remembered. "We... really get along." 

"We do," Thor agreed. 

"That doesn't count," Loki said quickly. 

Thor laughed. "I didn't mean it to. I was just agreeing. All right, Mister Picky, we make each other laugh." 

"We like each other." 

"We're glad to be learning more about each other." 

"We're both feeling like this is more intense than we expected," Loki said. 

"Definitely," Thor agreed. "And... I think we're both feeling like it's something special." 

Loki's mouth went dry as he nodded. 

Thor looked down. "Okay. Complete this sentence: _I wish I had someone with whom I could share ..._ " 

Loki swallowed. "My life," he said. 

It was the first time Thor's smile was uncertain. "Yeah. Me, too," he said. 

Loki looked away. His stupid cheeks were going warm again. "If you were going to become a close friend with me, please share what would be important for me to know." 

"Okay. Well, I'm not this serious all the time, to start with. I like to relax and have fun. And I know this is a dealbreaker for some people... I love puns. I know they're awful but I love them anyway. I can't think of anything else you don't already know." 

"I like puns, too," Loki admitted. 

Thor looked up at him. "You seem like someone who'd hate them," he said. 

"It never leaves this room," Loki warned. 

Thor grinned and looked down at his sheet. "I'm supposed to tell you what I like about you, and it says to be very honest this time, saying things that I might not say to someone I’ve just met." 

He ran his hand through his hair. Loki was really glad he didn't have to do this question and also Thor looked really good doing that and Loki wanted to tell him to do it again. 

"I feel like I've known you a long time already, and you kind of look like you have this prickly exterior most of the time - I mean, I bet a lot of people think you look intimidating enough they don't even try to get to know you - and underneath that, you're still," he sighed. "Don't take this the wrong way, okay? Still fragile. Like you've learned to make a shell on the outside rather than changing the inside. And that's really appealing, and I kind of want to protect you even though I know you don't need it," he said, meeting Loki's eyes. "Also, your pants are tight enough I could see everything and I liked it," he blurted out, staring at the table. 

Loki burst into laughter. "Well, I won't take that last part the wrong way, for sure," he said. 

"Yeah, who would?" Thor said with a grin. "All right, your turn." 

"Oh. I'm supposed to share an embarrassing moment in my life with you." 

"Yes! Fair play," Thor said, punching the air. 

Loki ran through which of his embarrassing moments he was willing to share. It had to be something he could laugh at now, too. Something that could have happened to anyone. 

"When I was in middle school, I had this incredibly fast growth spurt, and I kept being way bigger than I realized I was. One day my teacher was passing back some homework and I reached out to take mine and I grabbed her chest." 

Thor guffawed. "Ouch! That sounds mortifying. What did you do?" 

"I think I just babbled apologies for about five minutes. She finally convinced me to sit back down at my desk. And then I was walking past the teacher's lounge at lunch and I overheard her telling all the other teachers, and she was laughing so hard she could barely talk." Loki could still hear it in his ears. _This poor kid, I felt so bad for him, he was beet red..._

"At least she didn't get mad at you. That's good she realized it was an accident." 

"Yeah. There's that, I guess. Okay, time for you to get embarrassed now," Loki said, grinning. "When did you last cry in front of another person and by yourself?" 

"In front of another person, when I got to hold Brienne and she looked up at me like I was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen. Like, she didn't even blink, staring at me." 

Loki reminded himself to blink. 

"And by myself... I was watching a movie." Thor shrugged. 

"Oh, come on. What movie?" Loki asked. 

Thor mumbled something. 

"What was that?" 

"The Fox and the Hound," Thor said, just loud enough for Loki to hear. 

"The cartoon?" Loki asked. 

"They were best friends and they loved each other. They were supposed to be together forever," Thor said defensively. 

"Hey, I'm not arguing," Loki said. "That's actually really sweet." It was. It was revoltingly, sickeningly, stomach-churningly sweet and instead of wanting to puke it made Loki want to kiss him. Time for the next question, he decided. Something else to think about. 

Crap. 

"Now I'm supposed to tell you something that I like about you." Loki paused. _Everything_ was waaaay too clingy and probably creepy so soon after they met, though it was true. 

"Is it that hard to think of an answer?" Thor asked. He sounded worried, but when Loki looked up, his smile was open. 

"Maybe," Loki teased. "I think... I think you're playful sometimes. I like that." 

Thor looked pleased at the answer. "I try to be. Speaking of which, what, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?" he asked. 

"I don't think anything is, really," Loki said slowly. "But some things need to be handled carefully, and not everybody can joke about everything. Like how Mel Brooks can make jokes about the Nazis that there's no way I could say. I wouldn't, anyway." 

"Yeah. I read one time where someone said jokes should kick upward. I liked that," Thor said. 

"Exactly." Loki nodded. "Okay, your turn. If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?" 

"Oh. Man," Thor sighed, leaning back in his chair. "You know what? I don't think I've ever told Nanna how glad I am she's part of our family. Baldr's wife," he explained. "They just suit each other so well, and they make each other really happy. I love that Baldr has someone that great in his life. And I never said because I hadn't really thought about it until now." 

Loki smiled. "That's nice that you're so happy for him." 

"I am. A little jealous, too, sometimes, but yeah. Happy," Thor said. "Wow, we're almost at the end. Your next to last question. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?" 

"My letters," Loki said quietly. "When I was fourteen, this lady moved in to the house next door. She seemed really old at the time, but she was probably in her early sixties. She still had a job, at least. Anyway, she kind of looked out for me once she realized how things were. Us, but I think I was her favorite. By that point there had been enough social worker visits and things that it was clear we weren't going to get taken away, and she sort of became our grandma. She'd see me go out for a walk after dinner and call me over to bake cookies with her, or help her with something heavy. She let me use her address for all my scholarship applications and things, so dad wouldn't see them and make fun of me or tear them up, and when I moved away, she wrote me like clockwork. Real letters, not just email. Still does, once a month. It's been ten years now." 

Thor looked sad again. "I'm glad you had someone looking out for you," he said. 

"Yeah. Well, to continue this cheery conversation, of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?" 

"Most disturbing, huh?" He ran his hand through his hair again and Loki thought he should be allowed to look so good while he also looked so troubled. "Brienne. My niece. It's like how they say parents should never outlive their kids? Baldr's kids are as close as I'm going to get to my own, and I definitely feel like that about her. It would be like this complete inversion of how everything - anything - is supposed to be." 

Loki tried to look sympathetic. His sister was hardly any more likely to have kids than he was, so he didn't really know how that felt. He knew how he was supposed to look when people talked about things like that, though. 

Thor looked down at his sheet and frowned. "My last one says I'm supposed to share a personal problem and ask your advice on how I might handle it, and then you're supposed to reflect back to me how I seem to be feeling about the problem I have chosen." 

"Shit, they're not giving you a break, are they?" Loki laughed. 

Thor smiled. "Well, it's better than thinking about Brienne dying." 

"Yeah, that makes sense." 

"All right. A problem. Well... there's someone I met, really recently. Like, so recently that if I tell him how much I like him I'm afraid he'll get creeped out, but I really don't know how well I can tone it down. Cuz I know you're supposed to take things slow and get to know each other, but we already know each other and I don't know what to do." 

Loki looked at him. He looked nearly as terrified as Loki felt. "What did it say I'm supposed to do for this one?" he asked. 

"You're supposed to give me advice, and then tell me how it seems like I feel about the problem." 

"Oh." By which he meant _fuck._ And what if Thor didn't mean him? What if he only thought that because that was what he wanted it to mean? Fuck. "I think... all you can do is be honest, right?" 

Thor nodded. 

"And it seems like you feel really nervous. But maybe you don't need to be," Loki said. His fingers were crossed but they were under the table where Thor couldn't see them. 

"You think so?" Thor looked hopeful. 

"Yeah, I do." He'd said _maybe,_ after all. That was hardly a commitment. "Okay, my last question..." 

"Wait, you get more than me?" Thor interrupted. 

Loki shrugged. "I guess so." He looked at his paper. He looked at it again. It hadn't changed. "We're supposed to stare into each other's eyes for four minutes." 

"We are?" Thor said. 

Loki nodded and held out his paper. 

"No, I believe you. Okay, here goes." Thor started the timer. 

At first Loki was self-conscious. Thor seemed to be, too, the way they both started grinning at each other. That led to laughing. Thor really had the best laugh Loki had ever heard. It wasn't until they turned serious that it got scary. Terrifying, really. It was hard to breathe. Thor looked right into his eyes like he could see everything. Everything Loki had tried so hard to hide from everyone, and now here Thor was, just taking it all in. He was looking right into Thor, too, and even his perfect golden skin seemed to pale, and then... 

Acceptance. Loki could feel it. From Thor, for Thor. And with it, wonder. Wonder that a random ad catching his eye had led to this, wonder that they had been paired together. Wonder that what had happened had happened so quickly. If it hadn't happened to Loki, he wouldn't have believed it could happen like that. Thor must have caught on to it all a little sooner, based on his answer to that last question. 

When the timer buzzed, Loki could have smashed it with a rock. 

"Well. That's that," Thor said. He looked - no, he _was_ , Loki knew him well enough to know that - crestfallen that the four minutes had passed so quickly. 

"Yeah. I guess we should go do that last form," Loki said reluctantly. 

They rose together and walked silently down the hall to the office. The door was open, and they went in. 

The questionnaire wasn't that long, just basic questions about how they felt about the experience, how they felt about each other, if they thought they'd really connected. They handed them back and got their checks. 

They were silent at first as they continued towards the doors. "Do you want to get a pizza and watch tv?" Thor asked. 

"I'd like that," Loki said. His definition of friendship. Of course Thor remembered. 

"Okay, I know this sounds crazy, so it's okay if you tell me it's crazy, but nine hundred dollars is enough for a down payment on a nice one-bedroom," Thor blurted out. 

Loki smiled at him and slid his fingers between Thor's. They felt perfect. "It is," he agreed. 


End file.
